"What are you hiding? No one ever asks that."
-Sarah Vowell
It was rare that Oliver Queen felt the thirst of blood lust. Rare that he wanted to feel someone's blood on his fingers, see that last breath escape their lips.
Oliver was a man who was shipwrecked on an island, who went through long, grueling tasks to find himself back home. When Oliver returned to Starling he didn't know who he was. He knew what he wanted to represent, what he thought his city needed, but for the longest time he didn't truly know who he was. There was always this battle within himself, pulling him to roles he thought he should fill, but none of them truly showed who he was as a person. Over the course of the last couple of months something Oliver didn't expect to happen, actually happened. He discovered who Oliver Queen really was.
He was a father. There wasn't an actual child born yet, but everyday he felt the title of father really become a part of who he was. And it was only made possible by a woman who also helped him realize who he was. Oliver realized that he was hers. In every sense, and every meaning of the phrase, he belonged to her.
So as the man paced aimlessly through the pale halls of the hospital, his mind seemed to erupt with countless thoughts of the woman he'd just witnessed being rolled away on a stretcher. He was trying to imagine a life where he was told that the woman whisked away from him wouldn't be coming back. For some reason he couldn't imagine it, he couldn't see a future with such a moment. Because he was Oliver Queen and he only existed to be that unborn child's father, and he lived to love that woman unconditionally and if he could do neither of those things then in all actuality there was no Oliver Queen.
At some point Felicity showed up at the hospital, and then his sister, and somewhere during that time Laurel and John arrived. At various moments they tried talking to him, trying to get him to tell them what happened, but it was strange because Oliver saw them, knew they were near him and yet he didn't hear a word from their mouths. He continued to pace. He didn't pace, because pacing was the same as walking in place, and walking in place was the same as not moving. And not moving was the same as doing nothing. For some reason right now pacing didn't feel like he was doing nothing. In all reality he was going over every moment of this night. From getting out of bed, and not seeing her, to walking out and seeing her standing there holding an envelope. It always ends with the frightened look on her face as she collapses. That moment is etched in his memory. Making that blood lust so much stronger. He was going to find out who did this and they were going to pay dearly.
When the woman who was almost killed in a possible explosion just hours prior, then is suddenly rushed to the hospital, suspicions start to rise. It's why Captain Quentin Lance showed up at the hospital the moment he found out the news. His daughter spotted him first and quickly went over to him.
"Hey, there any news?" he asked when she walked over.
"Not yet." Laurel replied. "Has the police been to her place, yet?"
"Yeah, no one saw or heard anything. There are no prints on the envelope, and no DNA has been found." Lance said looking back over to Oliver. "All I have is him. The only person with her when this happened." Quentin was about to walk over, but his daughter caught his arm.
"Oliver isn't ready for your questions right now." Laurel said with a shake of her head. "The last time he saw Katie she was unconscious and he hasn't heard anything yet. Just give him some time." Lance let out a sigh. He understood what she was saying, knew he could probably wait, but he wanted to find the person behind this as soon as possible.
"Fine." Lance replied. "I'm going to head back to the station. I have some guys combing through surveillance footage from surrounding buildings to see if they can see anything. Call me when there is news." Laurel gave her father a nod before watching the man rush off.
"Did the police find anything at the loft?"John asked appearing at Laurel's side.
"No. Whoever did this was clean, left nothing behind that can trace back to them." Laurel looked over to Oliver who continued to pace the small space of the waiting room and sighed. "He can't keep this up." the woman walked over to Oliver and placed herself in his path to finally stop him from moving. "Oliver, I can't imagine what you're feeling right now, but you have to stop for a second and just breathe." Oliver looked down to the woman. He could see her lips moving, but he still couldn't hear her. He witnessed his entire world being rolled away on a stretcher, and now something was broken inside of him. "Oliver?" Oliver lifted his head at the sight of Ethan finally appearing from behind the double doors, and without hesitation Oliver rushed over to him.
"I want to see her." it was the first words they'd heard come from the man's mouth since they arrived. Ethan looked up to the man, and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Why don't you sit down first?"
"I don't want to sit down, I want to see her now." Oliver replied, this time much more aggressively.
"Oliver, you need to calm down and first just listen to what Ethan has to say." Laurel said before turning to the doctor. "Is she alright?"
"She's fine." Ethan said turning back to Oliver. "So is your daughter."
"That's good, right?" Felicity asked drying her eyes as best she can with her fingers.
"It is, but I'm still a bit worried, because we have no idea what was wrong with her."
"What do you mean?" Oliver questioned. "She's allergic to roses, someone slid an envelope filled with rose pedals underneath the door and when she picked it up, she had a reaction."
"That's what we assumed, but I found none of the general markers for an allergic reaction."
"She was having trouble breathing."
"Which can occur when you feel anxious. She probably believed she was having an allergic reaction too and it just scared her."
"So what are you saying, she's not allergic to roses?" Oliver asked with a shake of his head.
"I'm saying what happened tonight was not an allergic reaction. It was something that rendered her unconscious just by touching it. Whatever was sent to her was very dangerous. Maybe because she only touched the envelope it didn't have it's intended affect, but she's lucky." the man shook his head as he looked to the others. "Is there any lead on where this came from?"
"The police have nothing." Laurel said and Ethan sighed before turning back to Oliver.
"Look, I'm going to let you see her, but all of this kind of freaked her out and she's a little shaken and I need you not to be. I need you to be strong, and to do whatever you have to, to keep her calm, alright? Can you do that?"
"Yes, I just—tell me where she is." Oliver said once again and Ethan simply nudged his head for the man to follow. When they arrived outside the door, Oliver took one final moment to try to rid himself of the fear, and anxiousness that had taken over his entire body. Ethan was right, he needed to be strong for her and that's what he was going to do.
"Hey, it's ok if you need a minute." Ethan said turning to the man. "You went through this too, and if you can't-" Oliver stopped listening to the man and finally walked through the door.
The room itself, was dim. The blinds were drawn, not really letting much light in. There was a subtle beeping sound coming from one of the machines next to her bed. His eyes went to the woman lying on the bed, her back to him as she looks to the window. She lifted her head and looked over to him, and for some reason seeing the man made her release a heavy sigh.
"So, I had this weird dream-" Katie spoke as Oliver walked over and took a seat on the edge of her bed, automatically taking her hand in his. "I couldn't sleep, so I went and got some air on the balcony, but that didn't work. So I decide maybe a snack would help, because food solves everything." the man cracked a smile as he gave the woman's hand a gentle squeeze. "I thought I heard someone outside the door when I walked by, and I distinctly remember thinking that maybe I should call Liver, but I thought I was having another one my crazy moments." she closed her eyes and dropped her head. "Those moments where I see things and I hear things that just can't be-" she looked back up to the man with tears in her eyes. "It was an envelope. It was harmless and yet-" she placed a hand on her belly and closed her eyes with a shake of her head. "I'm sorry." she looked back up to Oliver and the tears just continued to fall. "It was was stupid, and I should've known better and because of it, I risked-"
"Hey, Twinkie, look at me." Oliver said placing his hands on the sides of the woman's face and leaning into her as much as he could. "This is not your fault. You did nothing wrong, and right now everything is fine. You're here-" he placed a kiss to her lips before placing a hand on her belly. "She's still here and she's still perfect."
Jacob Robins kept his eyes on Martin who stood muttering on the phone. Soon Martin turned to him and gave him a thumbs up, that let Jacob breathe since finding out about his daughter being rushed to the hospital.
"Thank you Dr. Mills, we'll be in touch." Martin ended the call, letting out a deep sigh of his own before walking over to sit beside his boss. "Her and the baby are completely fine."
"Completely fine people aren't rushed to the hospital." Jacob wheezed through the oxygen mask. "What happened?"
"According to the statement Oliver gave to the police, someone slipped an envelope filled with black rose pedals underneath the door. When she picked it up, he believed she had an allergic reaction, but according to Dr. Mills-"
"There was no allergic reaction." Jacob spoke closing his eyes and letting out another sigh. "It's because she's not allergic to roses." Martin frown in confusion. He remembered many times in the past when Katie was just a little girl and would visit her father at work how the man made a priority to rid the offices of roses because of his daughter's allergy.
"I thought-"
"You thought what I wanted you to think. What I wanted her to think." Jacob replied with a slight shake of his head. "Roses were a calling card for Darhk. He would send them to enemies and the moment the person touched a single pedal-"
"They're rushed to the hospital for allergies?"
"No, they die." Jacob replied looking over to the man. "He sent those pedals as a test. A test she survived."
"Why do I get the feeling, Mr. Darhk will not go away because of this."
"Because he isn't. Eyes on her at all times, and when we get the shot take it."
"Yes sir." Martin says standing to his feet and and heading for the door, but stopping. "Sir-" he turned back to Jacob. "This-" he gestured to the man and the machines he was now attached to helping him stay alive. "You can't live like this."
"I'm not going to a hospital."
"Then at least let me bring her here?" Jacob shook his head at the thought. "She deserves to know what's happening and-"
"Worry about keeping eyes on my daughter. Worry about locating Mr. Harper and Ms. Lane. You know what, worry about Damian Darhk finding out who my daughter is, but Martin, do not worry about me."
"Yes sir." Martin replied before turning and hurrying from the room.
The night of the rose pedals was a night neither Katie nor Oliver thought they would ever get past. A night they went back to often, but day after day it got easier. To make sure Katie truly was alright, Ethan ordered two weeks bed rest which she hated, but would do at the insistence of practically everyone. The weeks were long, but she made it through, not completely hating hanging out in bed while Oliver waited on her. She assumed when they came back to Starling, and he returned to his mantle as the city's hero she wouldn't see him as much but apparently that wasn't true. Oliver never left her side, which worried her when the bed rest was finally lifted.
The week after she was finally lifted from bed rest, Katie thought it was finally time to start getting back to her own reality. And that meant getting back to a company that seemed to be going downhill since she left. This morning, Katie stood in the bathroom fully dressed as she looked at herself in the mirror hoping to calm herself from the sudden nervousness. She actually called a meeting with members of the board of directors and a couple of department heads from the company. This would be the first ever meeting she would be at the head of and she wasn't completely confident she could pull it off, but she was the one in charge and that meant she was the one who had to do something.
"You can do this." Katie whispered one more time as she smooth out her skirt, and once again tried to button her blazer, but it was no use. Her belly was not letting it happen. She just shook her head before turning and walking from the bathroom, only to find Oliver standing right there. "I'm not doing this again with you Oliver." the woman walked past him back to the bedroom to fetch her shoes.
"Maybe we should do this again, because you don't seem to understand what you're doing." Oliver followed closely behind her. "Someone tried to kill you-"
"No." the woman said with a pointed finger toward the man. "Someone slipped an envelope under Thea's door. No one knew we were here, so it could've been your sister someone was trying to kill. Or it could've been the wrong door. There was no evidence proving that envelope was meant for me." she went over to the closet. "Have you seen my black shoes that are comfortable and don't make my feet look giant?"
"Twinkie, you were taken to a hospital and-"
"Oliver, I don't need a recap, because unfortunately I was there." Katie says walking from the closet in hopes of finding her shoes. "You want me to be scared, to stay locked in this apartment where we just lay in bed and watch television and eat but the problem is the world is still spinning outside these walls." She turned to the man. "You told this city that you were back and that you would help protect them and for almost a week you've been here." Oliver opened his mouth to reply, but she held up a hand. "And I'm not saying you shouldn't have been here, I loved that you were here, but I'm fine now, I am able to return to my life and you are able to do the same. You don't have to worry about me." the woman walked passed the man out of the room, and headed downstairs where she began sifting through the boxes they still had to unpack. "Have you seriously not seen my shoes? I swear I seen them."
"Fine, if you're going then so am I." the woman sighed and turned to the man. "That sounds reasonable."
"It does, but you seem to be forgetting one thing." Katie says before grabbing the remote and flicking on the television to the news that was currently playing a story of the latest attack of the city's Ghosts. "Damien Darhk is still here and he doesn't seem to be leaving." she turned to the man. "We need to find out why and if it has anything to do with my mother and you can't do that babysitting me." Oliver glanced over to the television. He was very aware of the Ghost presence in this city and Damien Darhk, the man with abilities he doesn't know if he will be able to beat. He turned back to Katie who was sifting through another box and he let out a sigh. He walked over to the couch, and slid his hand underneath before pulling out the shoes she was looking for. The woman looked over to him, her eyes going wide for a moment before taking them from him.
"You know I could've just worn different shoes, not having these wouldn't have stopped me from leaving."
"These are the only shoes you have that aren't sneakers and that are actually comfortable. You were either not going or wearing those furry slippers you have." Oliver replied bringing his arms around her. "I don't like this."
"We came back Oliver, and that means we have to deal with what we came back to." the woman replied bringing her lips to his. "We're going to be fine." the woman dropped the shoes to the floor and slipped them on her feet. "I don't really know how long this meeting will take, but I'll have my phone." she looked up to the man's eyes. "Oliver, RI is heavily guarded. Ever since that David situation they've really stepped it up."
"I will see about that when I drop you off." Oliver replied and Katie turned with a half smile. "What?"
"Actually, I have a ride." the woman replied. "My own driver slash bodyguard so to speak." there was a knock at the door and Oliver turned around. "Liver-" the man stalked toward the door. "Be nice." the moment he opened the door, Oliver just shook his head.
"Hello Bruce."
"Oliver, good to see you." Bruce replied looking into the loft and spotting Katie. A big smile pulled at his lips when he saw the woman. "Robins-" he walked inside sans invitation, which annoyed Oliver but he kept it to himself. "You look good, kid." the man brought his arms around her in a hug. "I don't think my arms quite fit around you." the woman pulled back and punched him in the shoulder. "So fat jokes are a no."
"Big no." Katie says before looking down to the gift bag in the man's hand. "What's that?" Bruce looked down to the bag before handing to the woman.
"So I was in Gotham and spotted that and thought I would get it for your spawn." Bruce said and Katie glared up to the man before looking inside the bag, and bursting into laughter.
"What is it?" Oliver asked walking over and Katie shook her head before reaching into the bag and pulling out a tiny baby onesie. The woman held it up before turning it to the front, where there was a black Batman symbol. "You have to be kidding me?" the man shook his head before turning to Bruce. "My daughter will never, as long as there is a breath in my body, wear that."
"Liver, you have to admit this is ridiculously adorable." Katie says looking at the tiny outfit. She looked over to Oliver who still just shook his head before turning to Bruce. "Since when does the Batman have his own baby clothing line?"
"Since the world is full of people who want to make money." Bruce replied. "Speaking of, you sure you're ready for this meeting? You're walking into a room of some very important people with the company and I can only imagine they aren't going to be the most pleasant people to be around. They're blaming the company's downfall on the lack of stable leadership."
"I can't blame them. When I was handed this company I barely wanted anything to do with it and so I tried to hand it to anyone who would take it and Wayne was the lucky winner. I put the company in this weird limbo and now I have to fix it."
"Things I never thought I would hear come out of your mouth. I thought running this company was the last thing you wanted to do. What's changed?"
"The fact that I didn't want it and yet couldn't get rid of the damn thing." Katie replied looking around the room for her purse. "I have to accept the fact that until something changes, I am the controlling power of a company and those people who I employ deserve leadership that they can depend on." she turned back to Bruce who was smiling. "Don't give me that look." she looked over to Oliver. "My bag is-"
"Kitchen." Oliver replied and Katie gave a nod before heading for the kitchen. Once she was gone, the man turned to Bruce who sighed knowing there were probably about to be some threats about to be thrown his way.
"Before you start-"
"What do you know about Damian Darhk?" Oliver asked seriously. Bruce glanced over to the kitchen before taking a step toward the man.
"Felicity told me you saw him. He was on the train that almost blew up the station." Bruce replied and Oliver nodded. Bruce knew a lot more about Damian, but none that helped find him and nothing he was going to tell the man in front of him. He would learn from his mistakes. "I don't know much. He was an enemy of the demon. They both wanted to be Ra's, but we all knew who won."
"What are the chances he's in Star City because of Katie?" Oliver asked. It was the nagging thought he just couldn't let go. It's the thought that is the reason he doesn't want Katie out of his sight. "I mean why would he want anything to do with her? To hurt Ra's? He's dead. To hurt Grace? She's dead too. What's the point?"
"I'm sorry Oliver, I don't have those answers. What I know is that I will be with her all day today. She doesn't leave my side, I promise." Bruce said and Oliver sighed. He disliked the man in front of him very much, but having Bruce with her made him feel a whole lot better about this meeting. Oliver looked back over to the kitchen with a quirked brow. "How long does it take to get a bag?" Bruce asked following his eyes and Oliver simply smiled.
"She's probably eating." Oliver said and Bruce laughed. "No, she's definitely eating." the woman finally appeared from the kitchen walking over to Bruce.
"So you ready?"
"Yeah." he replied. "You know you have something-" he gestured to the crumbs on her cheek and the man couldn't help but laugh. "So you're at the stage where you like to eat everything."
"Not everything." Katie replied trying to wipe her face. She walked over to Oliver. "Did I get it?" he brought a hand to her cheek and gently wiped away any crumbs. "Ok, I can do this. You can do this. We can do this, ok?"
"Ok." Oliver replied, leaning forward and bringing his lips to the woman.
"Enough of that, now." Bruce said and Oliver glared over to the man. "This meeting shouldn't be that long. You'll see her before you know it."
"Make sure she sits and isn't moving around a lot." Oliver says over to the man who nods.
"You know, I usually know at what points I should stand and sit." Katie replied looking over to the man. "Just a FYI. We have to go. Bye." With one more kiss, and a gentle rub to her belly, Oliver watched as the pair rushed out of the loft. The moment they were gone, Oliver took a deep breath trying to settle his own nervousness. He slipped his phone from his pocket and dialed a familiar number.
"Felicity, it's me I-" the man paused when the woman interrupted. "Yes she's on her way, Bruce just came by to pick her up." the man quirked a brow at the next question. "Just now. What do you mean you didn't know he was in the city?" the man just shook his head. "Look I'm calling because I need to know where you guys are on the Ghosts front?"
Katie stood on the elevator of RI, once again feeling a serge of nervousness. Bruce had been looking at something on his phone for most of the drive, trying to limit the conversation between them. He knew too much. He knew things he wished he didn't know about the woman, things he knew he couldn't just tell her or it would really crush her. He looked over to the woman, noticing the hand sliding across her stomach.
"Lucius is gonna be here, right?" she asked suddenly turning to the man.
"He couldn't make it. He's dealing with stuff back home." Bruce replied and he saw the woman visibly deflate. "Robins, you called this meeting, you took the initiative and made the executive decision that your company needed to make a plan to fix this problem it's fallen into your hands. You can do this."
"Yeah I can, but like you said these people may not be very pleasant."
"You've dealt with unpleasant people before." Bruce replied and the woman looked over to him. "Show them whose in charge." the doors finally opened and there standing was a really young blonde woman smiling brightly at the pair.
"Mr. Wayne, Ms. Robins-" the woman suddenly frowned before turning to the woman. "Or should I call you Dr. Robins-" she turned to Bruce. "I'm sorry, I'm just nervous." she turned back to Katie. "It's been a long time since you've been here and I'm not quite sure what to do." Katie and Bruce just stared at the woman before Katie turned to Bruce.
"Do you know who this woman is?" Katie asked before turning back to the blonde.
"Oh, I'm so sorry." the woman held out a hand. "My name is Claire Hastings."
"Hi Claire, I'm Katherine Robins, and I would very much like to get off the elevator now." Katie said with a smile.
"I'm so sorry." Claire took a step to the side and Katie and Bruce finally stepped off of the elevator.
"Why are you bombarding us on the elevator, Ms. Hastings?"
"Because she's your assistant." Bruce said when his phone suddenly rang. "It's Richie, I have to take this." the man didn't wait for a reply before walking off, but still able to see the woman.
"Assistant?" Katie says turning back to the blonde who was still standing there smiling at her. "Since when do I have an assistant?"
"I actually was hired the day you became the boss around here." Claire replied and Katie's eyes widened. "You were never really here though, so I never had much to do, but it looks like that's all about to change I guess."
"Yeah." Katie replied turning and looking down to the boardroom.
"I believe everyone is here and waiting for you." Claire said before holding out a folder to Katie. "Mr. Fox wanted me to give you this." Katie opened the folder to see a list of names, and departments written next to them. "Everyone's been buzzing since you called this meeting. Lots of questions are popping up."
"What's the question I should be most worried about?" Katie asked reading over the list.
"Why are you like crazy pregnant right now?" Claire asked and Katie lifted her head turning to the woman now realizing the baby probably was a big surprise since there wasn't some formal announcement. "Before you go in there, did you need me to get you anything, anything at all."
"No, I'm actually going to need someone to write stuff down in there for me." Katie says and she noticed the woman eyes widen.
"You want me in the meeting?"
"Are you not able to be in the meeting?" Katie asked with a quirked brow. She'd never had an assistant, so she really wasn't sure what the woman should and shouldn't be doing.
"I can be, it's just assistants aren't usually included in such big meetings." Claire replied looking down to the board room.
"Well I believe I will need some assistance in there, and I'm sure you're aware anything discussed in there-"
"Oh absolutely. The entire staff is required to sign all those disclosures. So if anyone goes out an blabs about the new RI smart watch, then we're under the jail." Claire said with a nervous laugh. "I just need to grab a note pad-"
"You won't need it." Katie replied before turning and walking over to Bruce who was just ending his call. "You ready."
"I actually have to make another call." Bruce said looking over to the woman. "You should go, you got this."
"Why do I have a feeling this was all part of some elaborate plan between you and Lucius?" Katie said and Bruce simply shrugged.
"It's your meeting, Robins. Remember you're the woman controlling this, so no matter what happens, keep the control." Bruce said and Katie let out another sigh as Claire walked over.
"I guess we should go inside." Katie said and Bruce watched as the two women walked into the boardroom, the door closing behind them. The man smiled before hearing the ring of the elevator. He turned, his eyes going wide to the blonde that stepped off of the elevator. She looked around for a moment before spotting him and he could tell from the way she walked toward him, she was not happy.
"Ms. Smoak, I should be getting to the meeting-" Bruce tried to back away, but Felicity caught his jacket and pulled him back to her. "You're probably wondering why I haven't called."
"I was specifically wondering why my boyfriend snuck back into town without letting me know." Felicity said folding her arms over her chest.
"How do you know I wasn't trying to surprise you?" Bruce asked. He wasn't but it made a good point. The woman scoffed with a shake of her head, before turning away from the man, but he could see her thinking about it, see her doubting her anger. She looked back over to him. "I guess the surprise is ruined."
"I don't believe you. Just like I didn't believe you when you said you just had to rush off to Gotham to see about the company Lucius has been on top of for a long time without your input." Felicity replied. "That night with Barry and Richard, they told you something, something you won't tell me."
"Something I can't tell you." Bruce said grabbing the woman's arm and pulling her with him into one of the empty offices. "We talked about this."
"We did and the fact still remains that if this relationship will work there has to be honesty. I've seen what secrets can do to a relationship, and I don't want that to happen with us." Felicity replied. "Look whatever it is, I can handle it."
"You can't, because I can't." Bruce ran a hand over his face and sighed. "I'm in the middle of something that you can't be in the middle of. It's very dangerous and the less people that know the safer they will be." Felicity shook her head before turning and heading for the door. "Felicity, this secret has to stay secret. If you knew you wouldn't be able to say anything."
"And why not?" the woman whipped around about to the man. "What the hell is going on, Bruce?"
"I'm sorry Felicity, I can't tell you. I can't put you in the middle of this and have you risk losing so much."
"So then how does this work?" Felicity asked with a shrug. "How do you and I work if you can't be honest with me one hundred percent of the time."
"Felicity, I do not want this to come between us. I love you." the man said walking over to the woman only for her to take a step away. "Look the truth is, I care more about your safety than you liking me. If I tell you, your life will be in more danger than it already is."
"What could be that big?" Bruce didn't say anything and Felicity just shook her head before turning and storming from the office. Bruce didn't go after her, even though he wanted to. The problem was she wanted something he couldn't give her. She wanted something no one could know about.
The moment Katie walked into the boardroom, all sound suddenly stopped. Her heart rammed in her chest as she walked to the only empty seat at the table that seemed to be strategically placed so everyone could see her. She pulled on a bright smile as she looked to their faces.
"Good morning everyone, I know this meeting was probably unexpected for you-"
"More like completely unexpected." one of them said and Katie turned to the man who sat further down, lounging back in his seat. "Why are we here?"
"Well-" Katie cleared her throat and took a deep breath. "Robins Incorporated seems to be in trouble financially, and-"
"And I don't think that's our fault." the man once again interrupted and Katie turned with a quirked brow. "This company is only as good as the head on it's shoulders and the problem comes when our head decides she's tired or she wants to be a doctor so she gets another head who runs a competing company. This company's financial troubles rest on your shoulders Dr. Robins."
There was a chill that went through the room in that moment as Katie stared at the man in a way that no one could quite read. She knew what this was, knew he was testing her, seeing how far he could push her until she folds.
"Was there anything else, or can we go? We're very busy people doctor." Katie chuckled for some reason as everyone in the room seemed to stare warily between her and the very outspoken gentleman.
"I'm sorry, what's your name?" Katie asked
"Campbell. Joshua Campbell, one of the senior board members and head of R&D here at RI." the man replied proudly.
"Well Mr. Campbell, first I would like to say thank you for coming today." the woman said glancing around to the people around the table. "I know all of your time is precious, and please trust me when I say that I would not have called you here if I didn't feel it was necessary."
"Which it-"
"When I open up the floor for comments Mr. Campbell, I will be sure to tell you, but until then, I am going to have to ask you not to interrupt me again." she waited for a smart reply, but the man simply nodded and Katie turned back to the group around the table. "Fine, I will take ownership in my part in all of this. When my father-" she dropped her head, and once again cleared her throat before looking back up to the group. "When my father died, and named me the CEO of this company, I didn't get it and I'm pretty sure none of you did either. So I fought this position. I considered the merger with QC, but that fell through and Wayne Enterprises initiated their POA when they thought I wasn't working in the best interests of the company, and I was relieved that this-" the woman gestured to the people at the table. "This wasn't my responsibility anymore. Then I realized that no matter who is sitting at the head of this table, my name would always be on the side of this building. It's my name, so I made the decision to finally step into the shoes forced in front of me and I promise all of you, I will wear them." the woman gave a nod before finally taking a seat. "I called this meeting because we need a plan. I'm not here everyday, and I don't see everything which is why I wanted members of the board and some of the department heads here together. This company was always ahead of the curve, always innovative, always top of it's class. I need to know what changed, and how we can fix it. I asked you all to bring a plan for your own departments, one you believe will contribute to the success of this company. We will discuss if those plans will be effective, or if they need to be altered." everyone once again gave a nod. "Before we start, I guess now I will open the floor to any comments or concerns anyone has at the moment." everyone's eyes turned to Joshua who smiled, but shook his head. "Well alright then, who would like to start?"
Oliver was listening. He heard Laurel, and all the intel that was gathered that proved tonight the ghosts would be planting a bomb at the source of the city's water supply. He stood, his phone in his hand, wondering if now would be a good time to check in with Katie. He glanced down to the screen, when Laurel turned to him.
"Oliver?" he quickly looked back up to her. "Did you hear what I said?" Oliver just gave a nod before looking down to the monitor which showed the schematics of the water plant. She narrowed her eyes for a moment. "Look if it's too soon for you to be back out there-" Oliver looked over to the woman with a quirked brow. "I know since Katie was in the hospital, you've been a little on edge. I'm actually surprised you're here, but if you're going to be here, then you have to be here."
"I know." Oliver said knowing she was right. He needed to focus on the mission at hand, and that meant believing that Katie was really alright and that he shouldn't worry so much. "Tonight we'll stop them."
Both turned at the sound of high heeled feet. Felicity walked inside not sparing a glance or greeting to either of them as she went over to sit in front of her computer. Oliver and Laurel share a look before going over to the woman.
"Is everything alright?" Laurel asked.
"Men are idiots." Felicity stated plainly before turning to Oliver who lifted his hands as he backed away.
"I think I'm going to go over there." the man pointed behind him before turning and getting away from another woman and another mood that scared the hell out of him.
"So this is about Bruce, I assume?" Laurel asked and Felicity simply pursed her lips as she pecked the keys of her keyboard a bit harder than necessary. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not particularly."
"Ok." Laurel said before glancing over to Oliver. "I'm going to call John and Thea, see what time they should be here."
"And I will be here trying to figure out the best place to put a bomb to destroy our water system." Felicity quipped not even sparing the woman a glance.
"Alright then." Laurel said before turning and walking away. She looked over to Oliver who gave a questioning look, but the woman only shrugged.
Katie sat at the head of the table, her eyes darting back and forth as person after person was speaking. She assumed the dialog was a good thing, and there were ideas already written on the board. She realized this was actually working the way she wanted. She was glad, because it became a win win for her and the company. The company benefited from all the great ideas being tossed around right now. She benefited by taking up a much needed distraction from the fact she thinks she may actually be going crazy. She needed to be here and not in her head, or focusing on being back in this city. There was a clock, but no one was really paying attention to it. They found themselves genuinely trying to map out plans for different departments. Dinner was ordered, and at some point Bruce slipped in, smiling at Katie who stood by one of the department heads as he explained something to her. It was extremely late, but everyone in the room felt like something was accomplished. When the ideas suddenly stopped, and everyone just looked tired, Katie stood to her feet and walked over to the board now covered in ideas to help push the company back into the right direction.
"Alright, I will have this typed up and sent to all of you." she turned back to the board and smiled. "Look I know this won't be easy, I know this won't happen overnight, but we have a plan, so I have the utmost confidence that RI will finally live up to the expectations of our customers and our community. You will all receive a copy of this plan and if you have any more ideas you can send them to my assistant." Katie turned pointing to the woman, now realizing she'd forgotten her name.
"Claire." the woman sighed, and Katie gave an apologetic smiled before turning back to the group.
"You can email Claire and we can work this into our plan. If there's nothing else, you're all free to go." Katie watched as members stood to their feet, conversations drifting out the door. One member did walk over to her before leaving. "Was there something I could help you with Mr. Campbell?"
"You know a lot of us weren't sure you could handle this. Hell some of us still think you can't. But what you did today-" he looked back to the white board, with all the notes and ideas he really think will help this company. "May be the start of you proving a lot of us wrong."
"I think that's a compliment, so I'm going to say thank you."
"Well you're welcome, and I agree with you this will not be easy. But if you don't mind me speaking freely?"
"Kind of late for that, isn't it?"
The man chuckled as he dropped his head for a moment before looking back to the woman. "Officially I'm not allowed to even bring this up according to those boring HR meetings, but I think you need to know. You're the face of this company. This city loves you and the grunt of our customer base sticks with us because of the loyalty to your last name. You being here, being at the head will help us, but you're the one who is going to have accept it and stand in it. I think that starts with telling this city where you stand, and maybe, just maybe why you're mysteriously pregnant." Katie turned to the man with a quirked brow. "It's the topic no one wanted to bring up, but it's going to have to come up at some point."
"Well thanks for your brutal honesty Mr. Campbell."
"Everyone calls me Josh, I guess you can do the same." the man looked up to the clock and huffed. "My wife is going to kill me." he looked over to Katie. "Have a good night, boss." the man gave a nod before hurrying from the boardroom.
"I guess I should get started on this." Claire said looking to the white board.
"Seriously?" Katie asked and the woman turned to her. "It's really late. Can that wait until tomorrow?" Claire looked to Katie with a furrowed brow.
"I think the look is because you're the one who is supposed to answer that question Robins." Bruce said and Katie glared over to the man who still sat at the table.
"Of course." Katie says turning to the woman with a smile. "It's late, and this can wait until tomorrow. Thanks so much for you help, and I hope you have a great evening."
"You too, ma'am-"
"Ugh, please never ever call me ma'am. Call me Katie, and when we need to look professional around scary business people, call me Ms. Robins. Deal?"
"Yeah, deal." Claire said unable not to laugh. "Have a good night." the woman soon left leaving Katie, who turned to Bruce who sat back in chair looking over to her.
"I see you were absent for most of the meeting."
"Well you had it all under control from what I saw." Bruce said before standing to his feet. "You ready to go home?" Katie walked over to the man, something seeming different about him. "What?"
"You look sad, what's up?"
"I don't look sad, stop being weird." the man said placing a hand on the small of the woman's back, and ushering her to the door. "Let's get you home before we have a guy in a hood stalking us."
When Katie walked through the door of the loft, her eyes looked up searching for Oliver.
"Hey, Liver you here?!" she called dropping her bag to the couch and heading to the kitchen. Oliver wasn't there, and that strangely ruined her mood a bit.
"I think he's still out Robins." Bruce said as Katie walked back into the living room. He noticed the look on the woman's face, and knew something was wrong. "What's up?"
"No, I just thought-" she shook her head because when she actually thinks about it, it's her that seems foolish. "I was kind of proud of myself today. I had this great day, and I just thought it would only get better the moment I walked through door and saw Oliver and told him how awesome I was. He would've made dinner, and the day would've been kind of perfect." she turned to Bruce who looked at her with narrowed eyes.
"But you already ate? Why would you want more food?"
"And now I think you should leave. There is no judging here."
"I'm not judging, I'm just saying no human should eat as much as you do and-" Katie hit his arm before pointing to the door.
"Get out!" she snapped before heading up the stairs.
"Fine, but come lock the door." Katie stopped and turned to the man. "People want to hurt you, so a locked door isn't too much to ask." Katie rolled her eyes before following the man to the door. "Don't open the door for anyone you don't know. You hear a strange noise you lock yourself in your room and you call me or Oliver, but call me first."
"Well can I at least stay up past curfew?" the woman asked and the man laughed. "I'm not a child, and I don't like being treated as such."
"Yeah, well you'll thank me one day." Bruce said as he stepped outside the door. "I'll call Oliver, let him know you're back so he can wrap up whatever he's doing."
"I don't think that's how the job works. You know that better than anyone." Katie replied grabbing the door. "Goodnight Wayne."
"Goodnight Robins." Bruce didn't actually start moving until the woman closed the door, and he heard the sound of the locks. He took out his cell phone as he headed for the elevator, deciding to call Oliver anyway.
It was late. Really, really late and Katie lay in bed wide awake. She couldn't sleep. She didn't want to go to sleep without Oliver lying beside her. Now she was worried. Katie has worried about the man before, but not like tonight. She was actually a bit nervous, as she sat with her cell phone beside her on the bed. The problem was, she had no idea where he was or what he was doing or the type of danger he was in. She wanted to call him, but she knew if she did he'd know how much of a clingy girlfriend she was starting to turn into. She glanced over to the clock, and she couldn't help it. She grabbed her phone and dialed his number. A sigh of relief escaped her when she heard the line answer.
"Hello?" Katie frowned, because that was not Oliver answering his phone. She looked down to the phone, making sure she dialed the right number, before bringing it back to her ear. "Katie?"
"Felicity, why are you answering Oliver's phone?"
"Oh, he and the team are out trying to find a bomb at the water plant, and he left his phone here. Are you ok? I'm supposed to let him know if you call. Wait, you're not in labor, are you?" Katie opened her mouth to speak, but Felicity just kept going. "If you are, you should call an ambulance, right? I mean you know that you're a doctor, but maybe I should call-"
"Felicity, how much coffee have you had?"
"I kind of lost count." the woman replied meekly. "Look I'm sorry, what's going on?"
"I just wanted to call Oliver's phone and hear his voice on the other end. Instead I'm hearing yours." Katie replied with a shake of her head. "But I know this. I know he keeps his personal phone behind, in case he drops it or something. He doesn't want to be linked to the places he goes. I know that."
"Katie, I could patch you through to him. It's fine."
"No, it's not, because for some reason I forgot what this really was, which was stupid of me. If he's out there, then he's busy and I don't want to distract him." the woman felt a tear on her cheek that surprised her. She didn't want to cry, crying didn't fix what was happening, and yet the tears didn't stop. She sniffed back tears and Felicity heard.
"Are you crying?" Felicity asked suddenly worried. She knew Katie wasn't a crier and if this brought her to tears then maybe it was serious. "I can literally have Oliver on the line in seconds. Please don't cry."
"Felicity, it's fine. I'm pregnant and a hormonal mess and I cry when I don't get what I want sometimes. Right now that's Oliver, but I will get over it. Uh, you will be getting an email soon about plans we're going to be implementing at RI, some I want to integrate into the New Beginnings Initiative. So I want you to look them over and let me know what you think."
"Katie, I can-"
"Just watch out for him and make sure he makes it back to me, ok?"
"Of course." Felicity replied before hearing the line end. Felicity sat there for a moment before turning at the sound of her name from the comlink.
"Felicity, the bomb?! Do you know where it is?"
"Um-" the woman was typing away, when she noticed the heat signatures. "I'm showing it's on the ground level."
"Got it." Oliver replied.
"You better move. The signal strength I'm reading, they can blow the treatment plant from Central City." Felicity replied with a shake of her head.
Felicity threw her fists in the air when Oliver announced that he'd stopped the bomb. She let out a sigh of relief.
"Alright, Diggle is on his way down for dismantling." Felicity replied. "And Oliver you should probably hurry back."
"Why, what's wrong?"
"Well it's late, and like any concerned girlfriend would, Katie called and you didn't answer. Pregnant Twinkie cries more than normal Twinkie, right?" The woman didn't get an answer as the man rushed to his motorcycle.
Katie stood at the balcony of the loft, her eyes barely opened as she looked out to twinkling lights of Star City this warm evening...early morning. Without realizing it, the woman leaned a bit more against the balcony, and accidentally knocked over her mug of tea.
"Shit!" she cursed. She looked down to the shards of glass, and sighed before attempting to bend down to pick them up. Once such a simple task, now more difficult with the extra weight around her midsection. She must have reached down too far, because there was a sudden sharp pain that shot up her back. "Son of a-" she straightened back up, but the pain was still lingering. The sound of the door caught her ears and she turned just as Oliver walked inside. He felt the wind from outside, and walked over to see the woman gripping her back, then down to the shards of glass on the ground.
"Twinkie, are you alright?" he brought an arm around her and helped her back inside, making sure to keep her away from the glass.
"I'm fine, I knocked over the mug and forgot bending down is something I can't do anymore." the woman grimaced as she took a seat on the couch, still trying to rub the soreness away. Oliver took the seat beside her, moving her hand so he could try to alleviate the pain.
"I should've been here. I'm sorry." the man said and Katie turned to him with a shake of her head.
"Oliver, I'm fine really. Broken glass is the least of my worries, and my back will stop hurting." the woman replied.
"Felicity told me you called, I left my phone-"
"Oliver, I know." Katie replied placing a hand on the man's cheek. She could tell he really felt bad and she really didn't want him to. "I get how this works. I forgot for a moment, but I'm starting to realize how this life will be."
"This isn't how our lives will be. This was one night that ran long, they won't all be like this." Oliver assured and Katie just smiled with a nod. "I will make sure I have my phone on me at all times, so when you call I will answer, I promise. I don't want you to think I'm not accessible to you at any time. Even when I'm wearing that hood, you are my first priority."
"Oliver, I know that. I understand why you don't take your personal phone out with you. I'm not going to tell you to risk revealing who you are all because I had pregnant moment and really wanted to talk to you. I just missed you, but I understand you have other duties that aren't to me and I accept that."
"The next time you call, I will answer." Oliver promised. "And I'm sorry I'm late. You shouldn't have stayed up though. You need your sleep. If I've learned nothing from Dr. Frances, it's that getting enough rest is very important during the third trimester."
"Well I don't think any of those mothers Dr. Frances observed had a boyfriend who shoots arrows at people who shoot bullets back." Katie replied before dropping her head to the man's chest. Oliver brought his arms around her, letting out a sigh. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, we found the bomb, but these Ghosts aren't going to stop." Oliver replied placing a kiss on top of the woman's head. "It's been a long night, and this is the moment I've been waiting for. C'mon, let's head up to bed."
"But the glass." Katie said lifting her head and looking over to the balcony.
"I will get it in the morning." Oliver replied walking over and closing the balcony door before walking back over to the woman and helping her stand. "We're going to bed now." Katie gave the man a smile before he wrapped an arm around her and they headed up the stairs. "Oh, I wanted to ask, how did the meeting go at RI?"
"It actually went pretty good." the woman replied with a yawn. "Preliminary stuff is out of the way, which only leads to the hard stuff. At the moment we're still in a bad place. To actually get back to our standing, the word downsizing was tossed around, which I don't want to do."
"What did Bruce say?"
"Bruce didn't say much of anything." Katie replied. "He and Lucius are on this kick where they want me to lead without depending on them. I will figure this out. I don't know how, but I will figure this out."
The moment they reached the bed, Katie laid down and Oliver pulled the covers over her and in just moments the woman was asleep. He looked down to her, still guilty that he wasn't there when she needed him. He knows she says she understands, but he still doesn't like the idea of her thinking there are times when she can't contact him. He knew coming back, things would sort of fall back to the way things used to be, but he vowed to himself that there would be changes and that meant the hood would not run his life and it wouldn't interfere with his relationship with Katie. He placed a kiss on top of the woman's head before heading to the bathroom to shower.
Katie found herself sitting at the familiar cliffs of Nanda Parbat. It was always a place of beauty that seemed to almost make her forget the hell she was in. There were footsteps from behind her, but she didn't turn because she already knew who it was.
"Despite what you desire Nura, you can't run from this." Katie turned to see her uncle who looked exactly the same as she last saw him so many months ago. "You know the truth."
"The only truth I know is that you're dead." Katie replied turning back to look down to the beautiful canyons beneath her. "That's the only truth I need to know. Everything else is just stress, and stress can lead to hallucinations and that's what the train station was." the woman shook her head. "I didn't stop a train, you weren't standing beside me, I didn't somehow end up on that train and watch a fight between Oliver and Damien Darhk. None of it was real."
"You think throwing yourself into your company can distract you from what's really happening." Ra's spoke and Katie simply shook her head. "Speak!" Katie turned a glare to the man, his order not phasing her a bit. Without hesitation, the man suddenly grabbed her by the throat and shoved her back on the ground as he brought his face just inches away from hers. "You can not hide behind fear Nura. You will realize that, or I will make your life a living hell!"
Katie's eyes snapped open, rushing back to reality. The remnants of her dream lingered, but she felt Oliver's arms around her which always made her feel safe. She turned to face the man who was still fast asleep. She placed a gentle hand on his cheek, and smiled before the doorbell suddenly stirred the man awake. He lifted his head, before turning to her.
"Who could that be?" Katie asked and Oliver sighed before tossing the covers off of him.
"Thea." the man replied with a yawn. "We're supposed to be meeting with an old friend of my mother's today in-" he looked over to the clock and groaned. "Like a half hour." he turned back to Katie. "Jessica Davenport and her daughter are coming here. They didn't say why, but she was close to my mom, we just figured-"
"I get it." Katie said sitting up from the bed.
"No, you sleep ." Oliver said grabbing a shirt and pulling it on. "You need to rest. I will bring you up breakfast later. But sleep now."
"You're so bossy sometimes." Katie said with a yawn as she laid back on the bed. She was tired, and the dreams were getting pretty bizarre, but she knows if she wants to get past whatever this is then she's going to have to face it and that means seeing the things and people she doesn't want to see.
"I love you too Twinkie." Oliver replied before heading out the bedroom to go let his sister inside, but the moment he came downstairs the woman was already inside and eating a sandwich. She looked over to her brother with a quirked brow.
"Hey, you said ring the bell and I did. You didn't say wait an eternity when I still have a key." the woman replied as she looked over to the stairs. "Twinkie still sleeping?"
"Yes, and she's going to stay that way." Oliver replied and his sister turned back to him, the concern coming to her face.
"Why, is she alright?"
"She's fine, but she stayed up waiting for me to come home." Oliver sighed. "She's sleeping, so it will just be me and you with Mrs. Davenport and Madison. I'm going to go get dressed, did you want to make some coffee?"
"Sure." Thea said before heading back to the kitchen.
Katie tried going back to sleep, she could feel that she needed the sleep, but no matter how much she tried that twinge of fear stopped her. She didn't know why she was seeing Ra's, why now all of this was happening. Right now she needed to focus on something else, because then she wouldn't have time to go crazy. She was far along in her pregnancy, and the CEO of a fallen company. There was lots to keep her busy. And so while Thea and Oliver were downstairs with their mother's friend, she was sitting in bed looking over the documents Claire sent over. It was a list of people that needed to be fired. The company worked with some lab tech from Palmer Tech who created a program that could figure out who needed to go for the company to succeed. Katie didn't know him or this program, but she was going to figure out a way to not let anyone go.
Katie sat reading over documents she only half understood. The other half was spent either googling, or emailing Lucius to help her understand.
"Who in the world thought I could do this?" she muttered feeling like this job was way over her head. She looked up at the sound of the door opening and in rushed Thea who wore a smile.
"Thea, I told you-" Oliver rushed in behind her, looking over to Katie.
"See, she's not sleep." Thea replied sliding into the bed beside Katie and and laying her head next to her belly.
"I see that, why aren't you sleep?" Oliver asked and Katie just shook her head.
"Bad dreams." she replied looking back to her computer. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Ugh, what's this with all the big confusing words?" Thea asked attempting to read the documents on Katie's laptop.
"Some stuff sent over from the company. I'm trying to find a way I won't have to let go a third of my employees." she said, sliding her fingers through Thea's hair. "So what did Mrs. Davenport and Madison want?"
"Oh, she's running for mayor." Thea replied and Katie looked down to her before looking back over to Oliver.
"Does she know the mortality rate of that job?" Katie asked.
"She does, but thinks this city could use someone who can step up to the plate." Oliver replied walking over and taking a seat beside his sister who was still practically in Katie's lap. "She came here because she wanted our support. There's a press conference later today. We're gonna go."
"Ok, I could take a break from all of this." Katie says before looking down to Thea. "You wanna move so I can take a shower?"
"I didn't think you would go." Oliver said and both women turned to him. "It's just the last time you were in a big crowd, there was bomb and-"
"Is there gonna be a bomb at the press conference?" Katie asked and Oliver sighed. "Then what's the problem?"
"C'mon Oliver, what's the big deal. This will give me a chance to hang with Katie, run some names by her." Thea said sitting up as she made herself comfortable between the couple. "Stop being such a worry wart."
"I'm not—Thea could you give us a minute?" Oliver asked and Thea huffed before sliding out of the bed and leaving the bedroom. Oliver turned to Katie who was already standing from the bed. "Cameras, crowds, there's too many chances for something bad to happen."
"So what? I stay in the house all day?" Katie asked as she walked over to her closet. "While you're out roaming the city all night, I stay here like a little pregnant hermit."
"That's not what I'm saying, I just-"
"Oliver, you're worried about me getting hurt." Katie says turning back to the man. "In whatever form that takes, whether Damian Darhk, or someone bumping into me. The truth is and shall always be that I will hide from no one." she looked back in her closet and sighed. "What should I wear?"
As he feared, the crowd was thick, reporters all around as they sift through the crowd. He kept his grasp around Katie as they walked, his eyes searching around them.
"Am I the only one who has a bad feeling about this?" Thea whispered over to the couple. "I mean, signing up to be mayor of this town is like asking to be part of "the Titanic."
"Well you heard me try to talk her out of it." Oliver replied and Katie shook her head.
"You know what's weird?" Katie asked looking between the two siblings. "You two questioning the dangers of a job." They finally stopped at a good place that gave them a good view of the stage as Jessica came to the stage. Oliver's arms around the woman never moved and she turned to him and he simply looked back to her. "Really?"
"Really, Twinkie." he replied before placing a kiss to her lips before they all turned to the woman on the stage. Katie simply sighed, leaning a bit more in the man's grasp.
"Thank you. Thank you all so much." Jessica said with a smile as she kept her focus on the crowd in front of her. "For the past six months, the mayor's office at city hall has stood vacant, waiting for someone to step forward on behalf of Star City. And today, I am here with all of you to tell you that I am stepping forward." they all applauded, because whether they wanted to believe it or not, they knew this city could use all the hope it could get."Two years ago, I lost my good friend Moira Queen, who was also a candidate for mayor." the woman turned to Oliver and Thea who dropped their heads at their mother's name. That sting of losing her always present. "And I remain inspired by her kind heart, and her selfless devotion to this city." Katie placed her hand on Oliver's chest as she felt the grasp her had slightly tensed.
Before the woman could even continue her speech, gun fire erupted through the air. Oliver pulled Katie down, before pulling her to a far corner away from the gun fire. Thea rushed over right beside them, looking them over to see if either had been hit.
"Are you ok?" she asked, the gun fire still ringing through the room. She turned, her eyes spotting the source. "Shots are coming from up there!" she turned back to her brother. "You need to go after Jessica and make sure she's ok." Oliver's eyes were on Katie and Thea placed a hand on his shoulder, and he suddenly turned back to her. "Oliver, Jessica."
"She's right, the announcement of a new Mayor hasn't made everyone happy. Go, make sure she's ok. I will stay away from the bullets." Katie says placing a hand on his arm. "And we will discuss I told you so's later. Just go, do what you do." Oliver let out a sigh, the last thing he wanted to do was leave her here by herself. "Go, I'll get out of here." he let out a low growl before turning to his sister.
"Go." Thea stood and rushed off to find the shooter. Oliver turned back to Katie. "I will be back, just stick here, ok." he placed a kiss to her forehead before turning and rushing off to make sure Jessica was ok.
"You could stop this." a voice spoke from beside her, and Katie turned letting out sigh at the sight of her dead uncle. "All you have do is accept what you are."
"Well I'm crazy, there's no question about it." she replied turning back, noticing the gun fire had stopped. People still kept low, no one moving in case it started back up again.
"No you-" his voice suddenly stopped speaking and Katie turned in hopes that he was gone, but when she turned she saw him still there gripping his neck as if choking. Soon he just disappeared from beside her.
"He's not gone." Katie turned and her eyes went wide at the sight of her mother who she hadn't seen in months. "Death isn't even strong enough to keep him away." Grace squat down in front of her daughter, smiling down to her belly before meeting her eyes. "He wants to rush something that can't be rushed."
"Hey Twinkie!" Katie turned to see Thea back at her side. "There was no shooter. It was a distraction. Have you seen Oliver?"
"He hasn't come back." Katie replied turning and finding her mother was now gone.
"Are you alright?" Thea asked noticing the faraway look on the woman's face.
"Yeah, you want to help me up?" Thea grabbed Katie's arm and both turned as the police rushed into the building.
"Hey!" they looked over to see Quentin who rushed over, his eyes looking over Katie. "You alright?"
"I'm fine, do you have someone in custody?"
"No, but we're still looking." Lance replied before turning to Thea whose arm was intertwined with Katie's. "Why don't you two get out of here. I'll have someone get a statement from you so you can get out of here."
It seemed the moment they stepped outside, the camera flashes seemed to erupt around them. Reporters shouted questions that neither Katie nor Thea intended to answer at the moment. They hurried to the car, when Katie felt a palm on her back. She whipped around, releasing a sigh of relief at the sight of Oliver.
"Are you alright?" he asked and Katie wanted to roll her eyes at the amount of people asking her that, but instead gave the man a nod, before bringing her arms around him, only for him to elicit a small groan. She quickly let him go, before looking down to him with wide eyes.
"Are you ok? What happened?"
"Fine, I'm fine." he said placing his hand on his back. "I may have gotten hit by a car chasing after a suspect." he looked down to Katie who still stared at him with wide eyes. "I'm fine, and I may have gotten some evidence." he waited for her to say something, but it took her a moment.
"I'm sorry, did you say you got hit by a car?!"
Oliver really had no choice in the matter as he sat without a shirt in the hideout, as Katie kept sliding and pressing against his skin to see if he had broken anything.
"Twinkie, I'm fine." Oliver said looking over his shoulder to the woman who was checking out his back. She pressed a sore spot and the man hissed in pain. "That-"
"Shut up, Liver." the woman said moving around to stand in front of him. "You're lucky. So did you forget that golden rule about looking both ways before crossing the street?"
"No, I just-"
"You weren't paying attention to your surroundings." Katie interrupted in frustration. "You have to be careful." Oliver grabbed her hand, and pulled her to him, but she pulled back. "You're hurt and I don't-"
"I will never be in too much pain that I will ever want you not to touch me." the man brought his arms around her, and pulled her close to him. "I'm sorry, I should've been paying attention. I promise to keep my eyes open next time."
"Well you better." Katie said poking the man's chest. "I kind of need you to stick around. This child will need to be fed at some point, and I don't think she will like my pancakes."
"Well then I will find my way back to you every time." the man replied leaning in to kiss the woman.
"Ok we have a problem!" Felicity voice called and Oliver groaned as they pulled back. "I am not an expert, but I think our new friend may have cut off his fingertips and played a little bit of mix and match."
"I guess that means no smooches." Katie muttered as she pulled away from the man, but he held onto her, pulling her back. "You have to wor-" his lips against hers silenced her protests. Soon the pair pulled back a bit breathless.
"Never too busy for Twinkie smooches." Oliver muttered, before once again hearing his name being called. "I should-"
"Go." the woman said before her phone suddenly rang and she looked down to see who it could be. "That's my cab."
"Cab? I thought you would stick around here?" Oliver asked, once again hearing someone call his name. He glanced over to his friends, holding up a hand for them to give him a minute. "People were shooting at you today-"
"Correction, people were shooting, I just so happened to be in the vicinity. So were you, so was your sister. I don't want to just sit here." she looked over to the others who were now blatantly staring. She grabbed his arm and pulled him off to the side. "Look when I came back to Starling, I knew I was different, knew I'd become this different person and then I found you and this team and I thought this could be a way to I don't know, release that part of myself I thought was meant for bad things. But right now, it's happening again. I'm becoming something else. A mom, and I'm trying to stray away from the craziness that comes with the arrows and hoods." Oliver frowned, because that said much more than she thought. "That came out wrong. You, I love you, more than chocolate cake and you know I'm an addict to chocolate cake and now I'm rambling." she dropped her head to his chest. "My head's a mess since we came back and I'm just trying to find my way out of it and I don't want to complicate it by adding more craziness."
"You want to tell me the craziness you're trying to find your way out of?" Oliver asked and Katie shook her head. "Twinkie-"
"Bad guys are trying to kill the future Mayor." Katie replied lifting her eyes to meet his. "You're busy. You have a job-"
"You know you keep saying that as if it's reason enough to walk away from you right now."
"Oliver?" this time it was Thea who was the one bold enough to interrupt the couple. "We need a next step and you're kind of good at those." Oliver didn't even turn to his sister who stood there for a few moments waiting for him to say something. "So five minutes?" the woman simply turned and went back over to the others.
"Last night-"
"Oliver I told you, last night was just hormones making me crazy. I know what this job entails, I know the types of things you have to do and I'm not upset about it at all. I know what's important, and I know this conversation can wait. Just go and I'll see you whenever you get home."
"Whenever I get home?" Oliver repeated and Katie shook her head.
"Well this isn't a 9 to 5 Liver. I'm starting to remember that." the woman placed a kiss to his cheek before turning and heading for the door. Oliver watched as he walked up the stairs.
"Oliver?" This time it was Laurel who spoke his name. Her voice was filled with an urgency she hoped would bring the man back to the moment. "Everything alright?" Once Katie was out the door, he turned to Laurel. "What do you want to do?"
"This guy is good and I'm thinking Jessica is going to need more than just police protection."
"She's in protective custody, and I'm pretty sure my father wouldn't be in favor of us staking out his precinct." Laurel watched as the man was already backing away to the door.
"Oh, I'll talk to him." the man replied before turning and leaving as well.
Laurel let out a sigh, before going back over to the others and letting them know Oliver's plan.
"Did he say what happened with Twinkie?" Felicity asked.
"Felicity it's none of your business." John reminded the woman before pointing to the computer. "Until we can actually be on site, we're going to need whatever eyes we have on that precinct."
"Fine." the woman grumbled, before her fingers were typing away.
Katie sat in the back of her taxi scrolling through the emails from Claire. She sighed because no one had any way for her not to let people go.
She dropped her phone in her lap and just shook her head as she glanced up to the window. She frowned when she noticed they weren't headed to the loft.
"Hey, sir, I think you missed a turn or something." Katie says turning to the man who doesn't even acknowledge that she said anything. "Sir, did you hear me I said-" before she could finish her sentence, the man pulled the taxi over and Katie turned in confusion to see they were stopped in front of some french restaurant. "What is this?" the door was pulled opened and Katie looked up to a man in a suit she didn't recognize who held out a hand to her. "Who are you?"
"I'm no one, but my boss is inside waiting for you." the man replied. Katie shook her head as she lifted her phone, only for the man to quickly take it from her hand before grabbing her shoulder and pulling her into the restaurant.